Name: Date:

“Pyramus and Thisbe” (with The

Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet)
Ovid, retold by Edith Hamilton; William Shakespeare

FIRST READ: Comprehension

Identify the choice that best answers the question.

1. Which of the following is the setting for “Pyramus and Thisbe”?

a. ancient Babylon
b. ancient Athens
c. ancient Rome
d. ancient Troy

2. In “Pyramus and Thisbe,” what is the Tomb of Ninus?

a. It is the place where Pyramus’s grandfather is buried.
b. It is the place where Pyramus and Thisbe are buried.
c. It is the place where Pyramus and Thisbe agree to meet.
d. It is the place where Pyramus and Thisbe met for the first time.

3. In “Pyramus and Thisbe,” why do the lovers communicate through the chink in the
wall?
a. They feel too shy to spend time with each other.
b. They are not permitted to speak or meet openly.
c. They enjoy using their imaginations about each other.
d. They vow to remain separate for a certain period of time.

4. In “Pyramus and Thisbe,” why are the jaws of the lioness bloody?
a. She has been attacked and wounded by the townspeople.
b. She has attacked and wounded Pyramus.
c. She has attacked and wounded Thisbe.
d. She has just made a kill.

5. Which of the following are among the elements of chance that affect the outcome
of “Pyramus and Thisbe”? Choose three items.
a. Pyramus and Thisbe speak through the wall that separates their houses.
b. Pyramus arrives at the meeting place before Thisbe returns.
c. Thisbe arrives at the meeting place ahead of Pyramus.
d. Their parents put both lovers’ ashes in the same urn.
e. Thisbe drops her cloak as she runs from the lioness.
f. Pyramus’s blood stains the mulberries a dark red.

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 GRADE 9 • UNIT 4 • SELECTION TEST

“PYRAMUS AND THISBE” (WITH THE TRAGEDY OF ROMEO AND JULIET)

BY OVID; WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Name: Date:

FIRST READ: Concept Vocabulary

Identify the choice that best answers the question.

6. Which two people are most likely to plan a tryst together?

a. two colleagues
b. two enemies
c. two friends
d. two lovers

7. If you are going to steal out of your house, which best describes your movements?
a. You will run out the door as fast as you can so as not to be late.
b. You will whistle a cheerful tune and wave goodbye as you leave.
c. You will slam the front door behind you and march down the street.
d. You will tiptoe quietly down the hallway and avoid being seen or heard.

8. Which of the following is the best example of a person doing something

forbidden?
a. Byronette took out a loan to pay for her college tuition.
b. Le Ly bought an expensive new dress and shoes to match.
c. George stayed out much later than his parents told him he could.
d. Aram helped out at the homeless shelter twice a week after school.

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 GRADE 9 • UNIT 4 • SELECTION TEST

“PYRAMUS AND THISBE” (WITH THE TRAGEDY OF ROMEO AND JULIET)

BY OVID; WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Name: Date:

CLOSE READ: Analyze the Text

Identify the choice that best answers the question.

9. The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

Part A Read this sentence from “Pyramus and Thisbe.”

In the wall both houses shared there was a little chink.

How do Pyramus and Thisbe feel about the wall after they discover the chink in it?
a. They react with horror.
b. They react with worship.
c. They react with gratitude.
d. They react with uncertainty.

Part B Which quotation from the story best supports the answer to Part A?
a. “But for you we could touch, kiss,” they would say.
b. “But at least you … give a passage for loving words to reach loving
ears.”
c. “Now,” he said, “you shall drink my blood too.”
d. “Only death would have had the power to separate us. It shall not have
that power now.”

10. Read the following excerpt from “Pyramus and Thisbe.”

Before him lay the bloodstained shreds of the cloak and clear in the dust were the
tracks of the lioness. The conclusion was inevitable. He never doubted that he knew all.

Which of the following best describes the conclusion Pyramus draws from the
evidence he sees?
a. He assumes that the lioness has mauled and killed Thisbe.
b. He assumes that the lioness has frightened Thisbe to death.
c. He assumes that Thisbe has run fast enough to escape the lioness and will
soon be back.
d. He assumes that Thisbe has run so far and fast from the lioness that he
will never find her.

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 GRADE 9 • UNIT 4 • SELECTION TEST

“PYRAMUS AND THISBE” (WITH THE TRAGEDY OF ROMEO AND JULIET)

BY OVID; WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Name: Date:

11. The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

Part A Given her actions in “Pyramus and Thisbe,” which of the following best
describes Thisbe?
a. quarrelsome
b. mischievous
c. courageous
d. impulsive

Part B Which sentence from the selection most clearly supports the answer to
Part A?
a. They agreed to meet at a well-known place …. The plan pleased them
and it seemed to them the day would never end.
b. In the darkness Thisbe crept out and made her way in all secrecy ….
Pyramus had not come; still she waited for him, her love making her
bold.
c. But in a moment, peering through the shadows, she saw what was there.
It was Pyramus, bathed in blood and dying.
d. She kissed his cold lips and begged him to look at her, to speak to her. “It
is I, your Thisbe, your dearest,” she cried to him.

12. Which excerpt from “Pyramus and Thisbe” best supports the conclusion that the
mulberries’ permanent change from white to red is a sign of pity and respect for the
lovers’ tragic end?
a. Once upon a time the deep red berries of the mulberry tree were white as
snow. The change in color came about strangely and sadly.
b. He drew his sword and plunged it into his side. The blood spurted up
over the berries and dyed them a dark red.
c. She ventured to go back to the tree of the tryst, the mulberry with the
shining white fruit. She could not find it.
d. The deep red fruit of the mulberry is the everlasting memorial of these
true lovers, and one urn holds the ashes of the two whom not even death
could part.

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 GRADE 9 • UNIT 4 • SELECTION TEST

“PYRAMUS AND THISBE” (WITH THE TRAGEDY OF ROMEO AND JULIET)

BY OVID; WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Name: Date:

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: Word Study

Identify the choice that best answers the question.

13. Read the following sentence, which uses the multiple-meaning word scaled.
I scaled the nearby mountain before leaving the village.

Which of the following uses the word scaled in a way that most closely matches
the way it is used in the example sentence?
a. The attackers scaled the castle wall to gain access to the king.
b. Don scaled the freshly caught fish before grilling it for his family.
c. The model looked exactly like the real thing, but it had been scaled down.
d. The sack of potatoes scaled less than five pounds, so Anton bought two
sacks to feed the crowd.

14. What is the most likely definition of the multiple-meaning word recess, as it is
used in the following sentence?
Her memory was fading, but somewhere in a deep recess of her mind she remembered
the carefree days of her childhood trips to the county fair.

a. a pause in courtroom proceedings, during which time lawyers and

witnesses can rest and prepare
b. a break that students are given during the school day to run around and
play outside
c. an indentation in the land
d. a secret or hidden place

Comparing Texts
Identify the choice that best answers the question.

15. Which of the following does Ovid’s tale “Pyramus and Thisbe” have in common
with Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet?
a. a crucial misunderstanding that leads to tragedy
b. poison as the cause of a young woman’s death
c. lovers who are secretly married
d. a fierce, wild beast

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 GRADE 9 • UNIT 4 • SELECTION TEST

“PYRAMUS AND THISBE” (WITH THE TRAGEDY OF ROMEO AND JULIET)

BY OVID; WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Name: Date:

16. Which of the following describes a key structural element present in The Tragedy
of Romeo and Juliet but absent from “Pyramus and Thisbe”?
a. siblings who are powerless to prevent the tragedy
b. parents who try to control the lives of their children
c. mentors whose advice to the lovers affects their fate
d. lovers who are passionately attached to one another

17. Which archetypal character do Romeo and Pyramus represent in The Tragedy of
Romeo and Juliet and “Pyramus and Thisbe,” respectively?
a. the king
b. the lover
c. the clown
d. the lunatic

18. Which of the following is the archetypal theme of both The Tragedy of Romeo and
Juliet and “Pyramus and Thisbe”?
a. the tragedy of warfare
b. the hero as outcast
c. the quest of a hero
d. ill-fated love

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 GRADE 9 • UNIT 4 • SELECTION TEST

“PYRAMUS AND THISBE” (WITH THE TRAGEDY OF ROMEO AND JULIET)

BY OVID; WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Name: Date:

19. The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

Part A In “Pyramus and Thisbe” and The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, which
elements most clearly contribute to the archetypal theme of the works?
a. the Tomb of Ninus as the lovers’ meeting place in “Pyramus and Thisbe”;
the Capulets’ tomb as the burial place of Romeo and Juliet in The
Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
b. the difference between daytime and nighttime events in both “Pyramus
and Thisbe” and The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
c. the dangers of natural forces such as illness and wild beasts in “Pyramus
and Thisbe”; the dangers of poison in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
d. the families who oppose the relationship between two lovers in both
“Pyramus and Thisbe” and The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
Part B Which statement from the text best supports the answer to Part A?
a. They longed to marry, but their parents forbade. Love, however, cannot
be forbidden. (“Pyramus and Thisbe”); His name is Romeo, and a
Montague, / The only son of your great enemy. (The Tragedy of Romeo
and Juliet)
b. They decided that that very night they would try to slip away and steal
out through the city into the open country where at last they could be
together in freedom. (“Pyramus and Thisbe”); At my poor house look to
behold this night / Earth-treading stars that make dark heaven light. (The
Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet)
c. In the darkness Thisbe crept out and made her way in all secrecy to the
tomb. (“Pyramus and Thisbe”); And keep her at my cell till Romeo
come— / Poor living corse, closed in a dead man’s tomb! (The Tragedy
of Romeo and Juliet)
d. The fierce beast had made a kill; her jaws were bloody and she was
coming to slake her thirst in the spring. (“Pyramus and Thisbe”); Hold,
there is forty ducats. Let me have / A dram of poison …. (The Tragedy of
Romeo and Juliet)
20. How does the archetypal symbol of the wall in “Pyramus and Thisbe” differ from
the archetypal symbol of the poison in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet?
a. the wall is the object of the hero or heroine’s quest; the poison is the gift
given by the mysterious stranger who offers help
b. the wall is the obstacle that the lovers must overcome; the poison
represents the fatal effect of the Capulet-Montague feud
c. the wall is the reward given to the main character for courage; the poison
is the object of the hero or heroine’s quest
d. the wall is the gift given by the mysterious stranger who offers help; the
poison represents the power of medicine

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